ich we Germans knew nothing about,
was taken possession of by the British authorities in Halifax,
and dispatched to England. The London newspapers then reported
that a dispatch box, belonging to Count Bernstorff, and containing
documents of the German Embassy, had been opened there. Although
the mistake, whether intentional or the reverse, was very soon
elucidated, someone had laid the matter before the Kaiser in a
distorted light. Apparently the Kaiser was allowed to form the
suspicion that the opening of the box had betrayed the secret of
the Mexico telegram.

A further reason for his displeasure, at the time, was told me
subsequently at Constantinople by the Kaiser himself. He said that
I had "let him down most dreadfully," when I had recommended Mr.
Gerard as American Ambassador to Berlin. I ought never to have
supported the nomination of such a "Tammany Hall" creature. If
he--the Kaiser--had only known at the time who Gerard was, and
what Tammany Hall could be, he would never have accepted this
Ambassador. In Constantinople I was able to reply to the Kaiser
pretty fully, as the interview took place during a somewhat long
journey on the Bosphorus. I certainly did recommend Mr. Gerard in
due course, but only after he had already been selected as Ambassador
by Mr. Wilson. Before he had been chosen I was not asked. If at
that time--in the year 1913--I had advised the rejection of Mr.
Gerard, it would only have created a lot of unnecessary ill-feeling,
as was the case at the nomination of Mr. Hill. It is the custom
in America to select the Ambassadors from politically influential
circles of the triumphant party; irrespective of whether Tammany
Hall or any other organization is concerned.

Moreover, in 1903 I believed that Mr. Gerard would be welcome in
Berlin, for social reasons alone. Everybody knew that the Kaiser
liked to have Ambassadors who entertained on a lavish scale. Mr.
Gerard was the only man, among all the candidates of that day, who
seemed fitted for this and in a position to live up to it, while
his rich and amiable wife was admirably suited to help him in his
task. Before the war, an American Ambassador in Berlin really never
had any political business to transact, for it was the tradition
with the United States Government to conduct all negotiations almost
exclusively with the diplomatic corps in Washington. In 1913, therefore,
I had no reason to advocate the rejection of Mr. Gerard in Berlin.
Unfort